ALBUM REVIEW : Mixed Bag From Metheny : PAT METHENY GROUP, “We Live Here” <i> Geffen Records</i> : ** 1/2

Why is it that most of the music that hits the Contemporary Jazz charts seems best suited as background sound for a drive up the coast to Big Sur?

To Pat Metheny’s credit, this revival of the group he has maintained on and off for the last decade or so (keyboardist Lyle Mays, bassist Steve Rodby and drummer Paul Wertico), performing in their first studio date together since 1989, manages to demand more attention than the musical wallpaper with which it undoubtedly will be charted. But it is not at a level with the creatively far-ranging work he has been doing for the last few years as an independent player with, among others, John Scofield, Joshua Redman, Dave Holland and Gary Thomas, and via his own expansive compositions (on “Secret Story”) and electrifying solo guitar (on “Zero Tolerance for Silence”).

Make no mistake about it, there are some very fine moments of contemporary-style music here. The composing, by Metheny and Mays, can be melodic and appealing, and the playing is generally crisp and to the point. Metheny’s always-fascinating solos (listen to “And Then I Knew” and “Red Sky”) are filled with his characteristically long, stretched-out lines. And the textural layering, especially on the title track and May’s “Episode (D’Azur)” is state of the art.

Ultimately, however, the funk-driven rhythms, with their unyielding repetitiousness--despite Wertico’s effort to add stylish subtleties--too often undercut the music’s impact. Metheny specifically wanted to explore what he describes as the rhythms of “right now in America” in this album. But what he really has done is confine his fertile imagination within the too-limiting framework of current pop music studio techniques.

As a calculated commercial outing: four stars. As a demonstration of the breadth and scope of Metheny’s skills: one star. We’ll split the difference.

New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).